Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food the damage that was done to the agriculture sector in relation to the E.coli outbreak in Germany; if financial compensation has been applied for to the EU; if so, the amount of same; the reason for same; the lessons if any that can be learned from the way the issue was handled; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17637/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The recent E. coli outbreak resulted in significant loses for horticultural producers and traders across the European Union. Thankfully Ireland was not affected to the same extent as the main exporting countries such as Spain and the Netherlands. The sharp fall in consumer demand in light of the crisis resulted in a significant surplus of produce on the EU market.

I attended a specially convened Agriculture Council meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday, 7 June 2011 to discuss both the public health and the market related issues involved. The Council was briefed by both Commissioners for Health and Agriculture. There was an extensive discussion on the need for a fully funded EU market measure and I am pleased the Commission responded promptly to that demand.

In an effort to remove the surplus product and contribute to the restoration of market balance, the Commission introduced a scheme with an EU wide budget of €210 million. The scheme, which is fully EU funded, runs from 26 May to 30 June 2011 and covers cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, courgettes and sweet peppers. The rates of EU aid on offer are specifically targeted to attract unsold product on the market. In addition, an EU-wide co-efficient will apply to reduce the rates of aid payable if the budget is oversubscribed.

To date more than 48 tonnes of unsold Irish cucumbers have been destroyed under supervision by the Department in line with the EU scheme. A significant proportion of this produce was destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the E. coli crisis when Irish demand for cucumbers fell significantly. As the scheme remains open until the end of June, a final figure for product withdrawal is not yet available. With the exception of cucumbers, the Irish market has now strengthened to the extent that most of the reduction in demand for salad products is more due to changeable weather than E. coli. Cucumber sales have been slowly recovering but the recovery will take some time.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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There has been a second outbreak, this time involving bean sprouts in France. There has been a blame game. Did the discussion with the Commissioners address the issue of how this was handled? I believe it contributed significantly to identifying something that was not ultimately the culprit. Did they address that issue and did they suggest a way of dealing with this type of situation in the future? If one does not learn from a mistake, one is likely to repeat it. That is the key issue. We will continue to be obliged to draw down funds for these occurrences if we do not learn from that mistake.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is correct. The implications for Spain were that tens of thousands of seasonal workers lost their jobs and the industry has been decimated this summer. All that happened on the basis of a false accusation that the source of this problem was cucumbers from Spain.

The food safety implications of the crisis were also discussed at yesterday's meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers in Luxembourg, which I also attended. We heard a further report from Commissioner Dalli that there was a decreasing trend in new infections and that all batches of product from the German farm at the centre of the outbreak had now been traced. The European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, together with the French authorities are in the process of investigating the outbreak in France and a special task force has been established. To date, investigations are focusing on seed grown outside the EU and imported during 2010. Commissioner Dalli emphasised that there was no danger from the consumption of salad vegetables such as cucumbers, lettuce, courgettes and tomatoes. Consumers need to know that.

The Commission acknowledged that there were lessons to be drawn from the outbreak in terms of co-ordination and the need for clear communication to the public. As is standard practice, the Commission will engage in a full review of early warning and response procedures over the coming months. It will also consider whether there is a need to strengthen EU hygiene rules on the production of seed for food for human consumption.

The Commission also announced that the difficulties for EU exports of fruit and vegetables to Russia had been resolved following detailed discussions with the Russian authorities. A number of countries in the European Union are heavily reliant on the Russian market and its closure was causing huge commercial problems across the EU.